Medical Tourism is no longer restricted to outbound medical tourism i.e. Americans seeking care outside of the country. Domestic medical tourism is gathering pace as more and more Americans are now crossing state borders to take advantage of cheaper prices available for quality health care out-of-state. It’s amazing to know that the price differential on healthcare within the same country can be tremendous if only you take the trouble to shop for it.

Recently Healthbase partnered with many health care providers in several states within the United States. The prices on major procedures that these providers offer to Healthbase clients are as low as 10% of the prevailing cost of those procedures in other typical hospitals within the country. Read more about this partnership.

So how can some US providers offer such low rates?
Patients can avail of such low rates if they choose the one-pay option. AARP Bulletin Today recently covered the story of Rodney Larson, an uninsured Minnesota resident and a Healthbase customer who had his triple bypass surgery at a heart care hospital in Kansas.

According to the bulletin,

As a father to nine daughters, electrician Rodney Larson always looks for ways to cut costs. So in 2008 when he was told he needed triple bypass surgery – totaling $80,000 or more – he shopped around.

Rodney Larson traveled within the United States for heart surgery.

Larson, 56, of Boyd, Minn., searched the Internet and found a hospital that would do the surgery for $13,200. The facility, Galichia Heart Hospital in Wichita, Kan., participates in a domestic medical tourism program run by Healthbase Online.

Located in Boston, Healthbase is one of a handful of companies reaching out to U.S. hospitals to provide specialty surgeries at much lower costs than traditional providers. The company also offers international medical tourism – in which patients travel abroad for procedures – but is finding a market for U.S. specialty hospitals.

Most patients who use medical tourism companies are uninsured and must pay upfront for procedures. Larson liked the one-pay option.

“They saved me a lot of money, but the point is, it was excellent care,” he says.

Healthbase is the trusted source for global medical choices, connecting patients to leading hospitals around the world, through secure and information-rich web portal. To learn more, visit: http://www.healthbase.com Login to get FREE quote. Access is free.

007 TOP SECRETS OF MESSING UP YOUR MEDICAL CARE OVERSEAS

Ever heard of botched cosmetic jobs in Brazil or crappy dental work in Mexico? Such situations are very real. Here are the 007 top secrets of messing up your medical care overseas.

Top Secret # 001: Not doing research
Don’t do any research and you will successfully fail in your quest for achieving safe and healthy medical treatment overseas. However, if you do want to go abroad and get quality health care while saving some bucks then consider doing thorough homework and collecting enough information. Some sources of information are: websites offering medical tourism services like Healthbase, news, articles, testimonials, etc. Satisfied medical tourists claim proper research to be a sure-fire way of happy and healthy medical tourism.

Top Secret # 002: Going abroad for a wrong procedure
Your ambulance will not drive you to India during an emergency (or even otherwise). Reasonably, only non-emergency treatments can be considered for medical tourism but not all such treatments fit the criterion as sometimes the travel costs can outweigh the possible savings achievable by going abroad.

Top Secret # 003: Choosing the wrong place
How about going to Thailand for your half-yearly dental cleaning? Superb idea? Not exactly. How about going there for dental implants? Maybe. And for full mouth restoration? Definitely. Choose a wrong place and you will waste your money on medical tourism instead of saving some. Wise medical tourists consider travel cost, lodging cost and number of visits required for full treatment when calculating potential savings.

Top Secret # 004: Choosing an unqualified doctor
Thanks to the power of the Internet, it’s very easy to choose a doctor qualified at accomplishing botched jobs. If you wish to not fall prey to them, better do your homework properly. Check your doctor’s credentials, ask people around and get recommendations from reliable sources to avoid scheduling an appointment with “Dr. Quack”.

Top Secret # 005: Not doing proper planning and preparation
Allowing time for surgery but not for recovery and recuperation? That will require you to modify your itinerary. As a medical tourist you should prepare yourself to stay longer/shorter than expected. If you have travel or tourism on mind, allow time for that as well. A word on arranging your essential documents: Put together your medical records and financial records, acquire passport and visa, and have the information of your important contacts handy. Also, book your travel tickets and hotel rooms well in advance.

Top Secret # 006: Working with a substandard medical tourism agency
There are new agencies cropping up each day. Some of them are there to genuinely help you while others are affiliated with “Dr. Quack”. A good medical tourism agency like Healthbase will have partners that are certified by international or domestic accrediting organizations. It will offer a variety of medical travel services, it will offer numerous medical procedures in many countries, it will have patient testimonials on its website, it will have been covered by media, and much more. Your research will help you identify the good ones.

Top Secret # 007: Failing to follow the right aftercare
Planning to play football the day after your total knee replacement surgery? Ouch, that will hurt! Physical therapy, rest, diet, medication, etc. are all as important as the surgery. Your local doctor might be able to help you with your aftercare so always keep him informed. You might also need his help, for example, for removing sutures or for taking X-Rays.

Remember to avoid the above 7 mistakes and your medical tourism abroad will be happy, healthy and successful.

Register to get your FREE personalized quote for any medical procedure abroad.

Healthbase is the trusted source for global medical choices, connecting patients to leading hospitals around the world, through secure and information-rich web portal. To learn more, visit: http://www.healthbase.com Login to get FREE quote. Access is free.

IMPLANTS-IN-A-DAY

Implants-in-a-day, as the name implies, really means implants in a day. They are also known as immediate loading implants.

Normal dental implants involve a couple of stages for implantation. First, your dentist will examine your condition and implant a titanium screw into your jaw. After some months the implant is uncovered and a healing abutment and temporary crown is placed onto the implant. This encourages the gum to grow in the right scalloped shape to approximate a natural tooth’s gums and allows assessment of the final aesthetics of the restored tooth. Once this has occurred a permanent crown will be constructed and placed on the implant. In all, this process requires two to four visits to your dentist over a span of 3 to 6 months.

In recent years, an increasingly common strategy to preserve bone and reduce treatment times includes the placement of a dental implant into a recent extraction site. This technique called “implants in a day” allows the implant to be put into place and become functional in a matter of hours. This is made possible through the use of improved scanning technology which allows the dentist to make a precision custom crown which can be put on the implant instantly.

Implants in a day are becoming more common as success rates for this procedure are now acceptable. This can cut months off the treatment time and in some cases a prosthetic tooth can be attached to the implants at the same time as the surgery to place the dental implants. Immediate loading technique eliminates the need for making model templates used in normal implants thus requiring only a single trip to the dentist.

Implants in a day are especially beneficial for dental tourists who can now save travel and lodging costs as their implants can be done in a single trip, and the lost aesthetics and funtionality can be restored faster than with normal implants.

On the down side, implants in a day tend to be more expensive than normal implants.

For affordable dental implants-in-a-day or normal dental implants, log on to Healthbase.com. Healthbase is a dental tourism facilitator and medical tourism facilitator that connects patients to leading JCI/JCAHO/ISO accredited hospitals and dental offices overseas through a secure, high-tech, information-rich web portal. Healthbase provides a wide range of medical procedures through its partner hospital network. Over two hundred medical procedures are available in various categories: cosmetic and plastic, orthopedic, dental, cardiac, and many more. The savings are up to 80 percent from typical US prices even after adding up the travel costs, hospital stay and other related expenses. Healthbase offers more than just procedural availability; we also provide customers with extensive information on medical treatments, hospital and doctor profiles to help them make an educated decision regarding their treatment; travel planning and booking; applying for medical/dental loan and much more.

Healthbase is the trusted source for global medical choices, connecting patients to leading hospitals around the world, through secure and information-rich web portal. To learn more, visit: http://www.healthbase.com Login to get FREE quote. Access is free.

TOP 10 REASONS WHY MEDICAL TOURISM IS POPULAR

Medical Tourism dates back to the times when wealthy Europeans and Asians would travel within their continent or to other continents to seek health related treatments. But, of late, the trend has been popularized by Americans, Canadians, British and others who travel to far-off countries in search for low-cost high quality health care or for care that’s not readily available in their country.

Following are the top 10 reasons why people travel to far-flung developing countries for medical care:

1. Incredible Savings
The top on the list is savings. Depending upon your destination country and the cost of the procedure back home, expect to save at least 50%.For example: A cardiac bypass surgery is estimated at well over $100,000 in the US. But in India, at a 5-star type hospital, you can have the same surgery for only about $10,000. That’s 90% savings even after you have paid for your travel, accommodation and vacation for yourself and a companion.

2. No Wait-ListsAccess to immediate service is what attracts those from countries that have public health care system towards medical tourism . A case at hand is that of a Canadian who suffered from chronic back pain for 16 years and was given medication to deal with it for all those years. Tired of the system and of the worsening pain, she went to India to get her spinal surgery. She now tells everyone how she got her life back by going to India .

3. Excellent Quality
To demonstrate their commitment to quality many international providers choose to be accredited by organizations such as JCI, JCAHO and ISO or by their local accrediting organizations. Read testimonials by medical tourists who vouch for the high quality treatment they have received overseas.

4. World-Class FacilitiesInternational providers offer luxurious accommodation, private spacious rooms, and access to hospitality services 24 x 7. The facilities are immaculate and there are no infections that we so often hear about being present in UK hospitals.

5. Access to Latest Technology
The technology and equipments used by them are the latest and the greatest. It’s not uncommon to see surgeons working with billion dollar robotic machines in operating rooms.

6. Surgeon Expertise
Most surgeons catering to international patients have either been educated or have received professional training at top schools in the US, UK or in other countries in Europe. They have colleagues in the US, UK and elsewhere, so it should not come as a surprise if they know your local surgeon at home.

7. Personalized Service
Most medical traveleres vouch for the genuine and excellent service that they receive from surgeons, nurses and other medical staff alike. The staff to patient ratio is low making high level of personal care possible.

8. Longer Hospital Stay
One of the advantages of medical travel is you get to stay in the hospital for long without incurring hefty room charges. You can have a longer hospital stay than possible in your local hospital back home under the supervision of your surgeon and physical therapist.

9. Great Convenience
Given the ease of international travel combined with low airfares, your life-changing surgery is just a flight away. Another convenience that you get is not having to leave the comforts of your home until the surgery is due. You can research all you want on the Internet about hospitals and surgeons, share your medical records online with them, book and plan your itinerary on the web, etc.

10. Travel Opportunities
While the primary motivation for most customers is affordable surgery the opportunity to visit exotic destinations is an additional draw for some. You can choose to have a relaxing recovery in a resort setting or if your surgeon allows you can even enjoy outdoor tourist attractions.

Healthbase is the trusted source for global medical choices, connecting patients to leading hospitals around the world, through secure and information-rich web portal. To learn more, visit: http://www.healthbase.com Login to get FREE quote. Access is free.

What is Medical Tourism?

Simply stating, Medical Tourism is the process of traveling abroad to receive superior medical, dental and cosmetic care by highly skilled surgeons at some of the most modern and state-of-the-art medical facilities in the world…all at a fraction of the price in the US, UK and Canada.

There are many ways to define Medical Tourism, which is also known as Medical Travel, Health Tourism, Health Travel, Medical Value Travel, Healthcare Abroad, Medical Overseas, Overseas Medical, Surgery Overseas and even Medical Outsourcing and Offshore Medical. But for millions of patients in the US, it is the only way to get the needed or desired medical treatment, without wiping out their entire life-savings.

Medical Tourism gives the global medical tourist the opportunity to get the best quality of medical surgery, cosmetic plastic surgery and dental surgery at significantly lower costs. While the low costs are the primary motivation to travel abroad, some medical tourists seek medical care overseas because of immediate availability of procedures and sometimes the unavailability of certain procedures.

Many countries offer discount medical tourism world wide. However, some of the best destinations for international medical tourism include India, Thailand, Singapore and Mexico. Central and South American countries like Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil and Argentina are also picking up fast as they not only have top quality medical expertise to offer but also have great travel destinations where one can enjoy a medical vacation.

Finally, some may call medical tourism a misnomer. Surely, vacationing is not the primary purpose of medical tourism, but while the medical tourists are recuperating, they usually take advantage of the opportunity to inexpensively vacation in the destination country.

History – How medical tourism came into being?

As the prices of receiving good healthcare soar, the insurance coverage becomes poor and the wait lists become longer, one is inclined to explore other avenues. If the same (and sometimes even better) quality of healthcare is available within reach then why not go for it? Hence, the birth of Medical Tourism.

Medical tourism is not a new concept. It has been practiced by wealthy Europeans and Asians for decades when they would travel within their continent and sometimes even to the US to seek health related treatments.

Today, Medical Tourism is no more a “dirty word” as was labeled once by the media. In the US, Health travel is quickly gaining recognition. This is proven by the fact that hordes of Americans (nearly half a million) visit Asia, Mexico and South America each year to seek high quality yet cheap medical treatment, combined with exotic vacations in the destination country.

Who should be interested in medical tourism?

As long as you are healthy enough to travel, you stand to benefit from medical tourism’s offerings. While anyone is a prospective patient, most of our customers fall into one of the following three categories:

Elective surgery
A large number of medical tourists seek out elective procedures such as cosmetic, plastic, dental and wellness treatments that are not covered by insurance plans.

Underinsured
As insurers cut back on their coverage and insurance costs skyrocket, more and more individuals find themselves ‘underinsured’ the current figure rising to about 16 million Americans. High deductibles, co-payments, out-of-pocket expenses, wait-lists and limited physician choices force many patients to seek out alternative treatments. Others find that the care they need is not covered under their catastrophic insurance plans.

Uninsured
16% of the US population i.e. about 45 million Americans are uninsured. These individuals, many of which are self-employed, frequently find themselves dipping into their hard-earned savings to finance their medical care. Medical illness can be a financial nightmare leading to bankruptcy. According to a Harvard study, half of personal bankruptcies are related to medical expenses. Thus, medical tourism is an increasingly popular solution among our uninsured population.

What’s in it for me?

Savings
You are not well and the treatment is necessary. Your insurance is not going to cover much and you will have to pay out of your savings. You know that the surgery will leave you with nothing to pay for your home loan or your car loan or even your utility bills and that you will have to start everything over again. Would you not rather go to another country where you can get the same high-quality care for a fraction of the cost?The primary motivation behind Medical Travel is undoubtedly savings. And not just savings – incredible savings, let us say! Compare a $7,000 hip resurfacing in India with a $48,000 one in the US. That’s more than 80% savings even after you have paid for your travel, stay and vacation.

Quality
Everybody raves about the low cost of medical travel but does that mean that quality is compromised? NO! At least, not at Healthbase. We only include those hospitals and medical centers in our network which meet the tough standards like those specified by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the Joint Commission International (JCI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). So, rest assured that the services that you will get will meet or exceed US standards.To further ensure exceptional service, we have a rigorous screening and selection process through on-site visits and extensive research. We periodically send experts to our partner hospital sites to re-evaluate their service standards and facilities. Furthermore, we monitor the quality of our providers through patient feedback and reports by international healthcare agencies. At Healthbase, we make every effort to make sure that you receive the best in health and the most in savings.

Immediate Service
When your health is at stake, wait-lists are not an option. Our hospital partners will work with your schedule and timeframe to ensure quick access to care. Through Healthbase’s sophisticated online quote system, your medical records will be made accessible to the hospitals of your choice instantly and hence will be able to get your medical quote within two business days in most cases.

Convenience
As the industry’s most sophisticated and comprehensive web portal, consumers can arrange medical care from start to finish. Our one-stop service offerings are just one of the ways we strive to provide world-class care.

Travel Opportunities
While the primary motivation for most customers is affordable surgery, the opportunity to visit exotic destinations is an additional draw for some of our customers. Some medical tourists spend a few days sightseeing before their procedure while others enjoy the same while recuperating.

I get all these benefits but how are the hospitals able to provide high quality at such low rates? Is it a marketing gimmick?

No, it is not a marketing gimmick and there are no fine print catches. Our hospitals can really provide high quality at low rates. Fees in the U.S. are driven by labor overhead, administrative expenses, and insurance contracts. Over 71 percent of hospital costs are labor related according to a recent World Health Organization report which helps to explain some of the cost advantages for countries with low labor costs. Healthbase eliminates these burdens by connecting patients directly to surgeons, allowing us to offer premier services at prices unavailable in the U.S. It is truly a win-win situation for everybody.

The process of Medical Tourism at Healthbase

Having read enough about the low cost high quality phenomenon of medical care, we are sure you now want to board that plane to get your treatment. Allow us to assist you in your journey to recovery with our unique and most sophisticated medical tourism process. The following diagram gives an overview of how our sophisticated yet easy system works.

The guide to the step by step procedure of Healthbase Medical Tourism follows:

Become a registered Healthbase member
Register for FREE to create a new account or use an existing account to login to enjoy a whole host of services and resources.

Research the medical procedures
Review the medical procedures of your interest from amongst 200+ procedures available. You may also visit our Med Library or read our weblog-1 | weblog-2 to update yourself with the latest and the greatest in the medical field.

Review and select a hospital from the network of partner hospitals
After selecting a procedure of your interest, you may review the hospitals offering that procedure and choose a hospital that you like. To assist you with the selection of the hospital, we give you detailed profiles of our partner hospitals such as the hospital capacity, the equipments being used, room facilities, and much more. Furthermore, a complete profile of the doctors/surgeons employed with those hospitals is also available to make you confident about the medical team that will be in charge of your treatment.

Upload your medical records
In order to assist you with the medical procedures, the surgeons will need to look at your medical records. Update your account with your medical records.

Request your free quote
We have worked tremendously with our partner hospitals to get you the best deal possible for your treatment. At our website, you may request for your free quote for treatment at the hospital of your choice for your desired travel dates.

Correspond with the hospital and appointed surgeons
Once you have reviewed the quote sent by the hospital, we encourage you to correspond with the medical team that will be responsible to cure you and get the answers to your questions. We will facilitate this communication between you and your surgeons.

Request and review travel and accommodation quotes
When you are ready to go, you may request travel and accommodation quotes from our travel and hotel partners respectively. You can book your and your companions tickets, acquire your passports/visas, buy travel insurance, and review travel/packing tips using our online resources.

Apply for medical/dental loan
We understand that your treatment is necessary but you may be unable to pay for it up front. Therefore, we have collaborated with loan processing companies where you can apply for medical and dental loans.

Arrive at your destination
Upon your arrival at your destination country you will be received at the airport and will have an assistant till you reach the hotel or the hospital and you are checked in.

Go for pre-treatment consultation
Our assistant will take you to the hospital for your pre-treatment consultation where you will be examined by the appointed medical team and will get a chance to clarify any doubts you may have.

Undergo your treatment/surgery
Once you have checked into the hospital for your treatment/surgery, you will be treated by the best experienced surgeons.

Recuperate after your treatment and return back home
After your surgeon has released you from the hospital, you will be taken back to your hotel. You may also celebrate your successful treatment with a vacation while you are recuperating. Once all the required post-treatment consultations are over and the surgeon is satisfied with your condition, you may return back home.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Begin your journey by logging in
now to explore the multitude of medical tourism options available to you, to view the cost comparison of over 200 procedures at various hospitals in different countries and to receive your free personalized cost estimate. It’s as easy as 1-2-3…fast, simple and FREE!!

Why Healthbase?

Life is precious and mistakes can cost you dearly. You are traveling halfway across the world to go under the knife of someone you hardly know. So wouldn’t you like to take a partner along who is with you at every single step all the way – from start to finish and beyond?

Yes, we are talking about us. When you choose to go with us, you will find us with you everywhere. At Healthbase, your wellness means everything to us. We are not amongst those medical tourism companies that give you a plethora of advice but a paucity of assistance. At Healthbase, you will receive the best of advice and the best of assistance. Here are a few more reasons why we stand out amidst competition and why we are the trusted provider-of-choice for medical tourists worldwide:

Empower yourself with information anywhere, anytime
We have the industry’s most sophisticated and comprehensive automated web portal to guarantee quick, effective and efficient communication of all information related to the medical tourism process.

Communication is the key to everything
We allow you to correspond with your assigned surgeons as and when required.

Our boasts are not empty
We are medical tourism experts with first-hand industry experience and satisfied clients.

Offer so much to choose from
We offer over 15 international hospital providers in 10 cities in 4 countries to meet your medical travel needs. And we are continually expanding our network so you have multiple choices to select from.

Quality is our hallmark of success
We have a rigorous screening and selection process through on-site visits and extensive research. We periodically send experts to our partner hospital sites to re-evaluate their service standards and facilities.

Need we say again that quality is our hallmark of success?
We have room for only leading healthcare institutions that are either JCI or JCAHO or ISO certified. They are equipped with the most modern, state-of-the-art medical equipments and technology and employ elite physicians educated and trained in the US/UK.

Understanding your needs at every step
We partner with travel agencies to arrange your travel, with hotels to manage your accommodation, and medical and dental loan processing companies to support you financially.

Always round the corner
We are accessible via our Toll-Free telephone number (1-888-MY1-HLTH or 1-888-691-4584) to answer your questions at your convenience. Should you require assistance via email then simply drop in a line (customers.hb@healthbase.com).

Corporate Medical Tourism

To all Small-business owners, Corporations, Self-insured employers, Insurers, Brokers: Are you looking to expand medical choices for consumers while saving thousands of dollars on each case? Do you want to distinguish your company from the competition? We have some excellent corporate plans (employer plans) that will help you reduce costs while maintaining high standards of care. Click here to know how.